Last year’s French Open semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky has become the first seed to go out at the WTA Brisbane International following a crushing 6-2, 6-1, loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Bacsinszky, who was seeded fifth in her first tournament of the year, was only able to hold two out of her seven service games compared to her Russian rival who held seven out of eight. The comprehensive win by Pavlyuchenkova took its toll on the Swiss player who appeared close to crying on the court. During the match, the Russian won six consecutive games as she grabbed her first ever win over the Swiss.
The reward for Pavlyuchenkova will be a second round encounter against France’s Alize Cornet. In Cornet’s opening match, she defeated fellow countrywoman Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-4. Cornet is currently ranked 14 places lower than her French Rival. The second round encounter will be a tough task for the French player, who currently has a 0-5 head-to-head record against the Russian world No.28.
Second seed Garbine Muguruza, who received a first round bye, will start her Brisbane quest against America’s Varvara Lepchenko in the second round. The American world No.47 produced an impressive 6-2, 6-1 win over Anna Karolína Schmiedlová, a player ranked over 20 places above her in the WTA rankings. It will be the second meeting between their two players after their encounter at Wimbledon last year where Muguruza won 6-4, 6-1 in the first round.
Former Australian Open runner-up, Dominika Cibulkova, endured a marathon encounter against Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer. With just three ranking places separating the two players, a close match was expected. After suffering three breaks of service in the first set, Cibulkova managed to claw her way back to take the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, after two hours and 13 minutes on the court. Shortly after her win, the Slovakian admitted that her serve let her down during the early part of the match.
“Today I was really, really strong, especially mentally,” she said.
“For the first match it was tough because [in] these first tournaments of the season…you never know what to expect.
“The only thing I knew I could do better in the first set and second set was my serve,” she added.
Finally, Andrea Petkovic made a winning start to 2016 with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Brazil’s Teliana Pereira. The win is a vital confidence boost for the German who experienced a troublesome 2015 due to issues both on and off the court.
